Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department announced today that a driver has been charged for striking and killing a motorcyclist on June 27.
Officials say Mr. Roland Q. Lyles, 31, of Orange, was arrested and charged on June 27, 2020, with aggravated assault in the second degree.
According to officials, the charges were upgraded today, following the death of the victim, to aggravated manslaughter in the first degree, vehicular homicide in the second degree, and driving with a suspended license and causing the death of another person in the third degree.
He was also issued motor vehicle summonses, including driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license.
The deceased motorcyclist was identified as Richard Diaz, 51, of Brooklyn, New York, according to police.
During the investigation, it was determined that on June 27, 2020, at approximately 2:19 am, Lyles was driving a white Nissan Sentra traveling northbound on Route 1 near Grandview Avenue at a high rate of speed when he struck the victim’s motorcycle.
Diaz was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick following the crash. He died on June 30, 2020, from his injuries officials said.
The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Dominick Masi of the Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7400, or Detective Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-4328.